Paul McCartney Definitely Would Have Been Kicked Out of This Chinese High School

China’s education system has long had a chary attitude toward matters of romance. Middle-school students are often warned against canoodling, while for many years, Chinese college students who chose to get married were summarily kicked out.

But a high school in central Henan province has grabbed the spotlight with its approach to regulating puppy love: it threatened to expel any students who are seen holding hands more than once.

Posted as part of a set of mirthless “Eight Prohibitions,” the rules also ban using cellphones, theft and cheating, state media reported. In addition to moratorium on hand-holding — highly un-Paul McCartney in spirit — the rules also banned on-campus birthday celebrations, with those who attempt to merry-make also threatened with expulsion.

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Attempts to reach Yanshi High School were unsuccessful. However, according to a report in the state-run People’s Daily, the school said its goal was to “cultivate high-character students and to increase the quality of the school’s administration.”

Local media lambasted the regulations. “If you carefully examine the prohibitions, you find some are not reasonable, they’re not scientific,” one writer opined in the Beijing Morning Post. Birthday parties, the author wrote, could help students become more fraternal and mutually caring in their attitudes toward one another.

China’s education system is characterized by its single-minded drive toward helping students succeed at the gaokao, or college-entrance exam, with punishing levels of pressure and grueling schedules de rigueur. Extracurricular affairs of the heart are accordingly strictly frowned on: In years past, schools have banned male and female students from standing too close to one another or dining together, and taught students to avoid touching each others’ waists in dance class.

Following the backlash, the Yanshi high school amended its regulations to say it will kick out students only if their dating has a “negative influence.”

Draconian or not, some doubted that the school’s rules would have much of an impact on increasing levels of academic industry anyway. As 15-year-old Hunan high school student Wu Yilian said, the inability to hold hands isn’t likely to dim the ardor of a school crush.

“Some of my classmates are involved in some sort of relationship, but they don’t need to hold hands in school. This rule is unlikely to have any real effects. Not holding hands doesn’t mean anything,” Ms. Wu said.

– Te-Ping Chen, with contributions from Li Jie.Follow her on Twitter at @tepingchen

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